Kick Serve Improvement Help [video]

[strcmp]

What are some things I can work on to improve my kick serve?

http://s86961127.onlinehome.us/video/Kick%20Serve.mov

In some of my follow throughs it looks like i'm falling to the left afterwards, maybe losing balance due to a bad toss. Is that normal?

I was thinking of making this like a video journal.. So if you guys can give me some advice I can update with a new video once I incorporate that into my serve.

Thanks

 

[tennisbass]

Oh Man, if I pick up the balls like that it would kill my back. You'll know what I mean when you turn my age.

 

[tdk]

Great video and jurnal consept. Im in the prosess of doing the exact same thing except with ground strokes. Im no coach and if you want ref of my playing check out my video in other thread. Hers my 2 cent...

Good serve... You seem to have good flow in your serve and the way you bend both of your knees reminds me of Agassi. You have a good throw....
However, you are right about falling to the left. Not only are you falling to the left but you are falling forwards too. It puts you off balance and in a bad position on court if return comes back hard close to the base line. I think your falling has some to do with the fact that you are jumping and unwinding at the same time. Maybe you should try to stay on the ground just to see if you can still hit the ball and how well. In order to make the ball fly 100mph you dont have to do anything else than hit the ball with your rackquet.

 

[newnuse]

First, get some shorts with pockets man. That was painful just to watch.

Tough to tell from the camera location the action of your ball as it crosses the net.

Are you trying to get more topsin so that the serves jumps more? Or are you trying to get the ball to kick to the right (twist serve perhaps?)

I find that a ball that moves to the right after hitting the ground is very effective since most players are righties. When I serve a ball that moves to the right, my body position at impact is not as open as yours. The returner can see the left side of my back. This allows me to have more a side brushing action on the ball as well as the topsin motion. It's a tough serve to master and tough on the back, but the results are pretty good.

 

[TonyB]

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with your serve. The motion is just fine. Nice position, nice knee bend, nice racquet preparation, good extension, good follow-through.

You're falling a bit to your left, but that's not a big deal because you're naturally throwing the ball a bit to the left to get the added topspin. That seems pretty normal to me.

Two things would improve your serve:

1) Explode with your knees a bit harder. It's like you're just taking it easy when in reality you should be pounding the ball. Go ahead and hit it!

2) Change your grip (from the eastern forehand grip that you're currently using) to a "hammer" or continental grip. Or maybe even go a bit on the eastern BACKhand side. That will let you get a lot more topspin on the ball as you come over it.

Seriously, other than that, I wouldn't change a single thing. Except maybe to hold 2 or 3 balls in your hand so you don't have to bend down every single time. Or get some pockets

 

[strcmp]

The funny thing is, i did have shorts with pockets on. I just didn't like the feeling of stuffing 9 balls in my pockets. Really inhibits your motion.

When I try to explode at the ball even harder, I usually mishit it. So i've been trying to get it consistent first before trying to swing even faster.

In that video I was using eastern backhand grip.

One thing I tried changing today was pointing my front foot towards the right net post and I think that forces me to torque my body more when hitting the ball and that seemed to help give the ball more spin. (In that video my front foot is parallel to the baseline.)

 

[strcmp]

First, get some shorts with pockets man. That was painful just to watch.

Tough to tell from the camera location the action of your ball as it crosses the net.

Are you trying to get more topsin so that the serves jumps more? Or are you trying to get the ball to kick to the right (twist serve perhaps?)

I find that a ball that moves to the right after hitting the ground is very effective since most players are righties. When I serve a ball that moves to the right, my body position at impact is not as open as yours. The returner can see the left side of my back. This allows me to have more a side brushing action on the ball as well as the topsin motion. It's a tough serve to master and tough on the back, but the results are pretty good.

The video was taken yesterday right after it rained so it was overcast. The court was slightly wet and the balls were a little damp from falling in the puddles. I can take a better video another day.

My goal would be to get more topspin out of it. I know the basic premise of swinging the racquet from 6-7 oclock to 1-2 oclock. Just wanted to make sure my technique was okay.

I've never seen a really good twist serve. I looked at the twist serve on about.com, but I don't see anything special about it. Maybe the video wasn't clear, but it didn't look like the ball bounced any different. Looked like a regular kick serve.

 

[dave333]

how do you do a kicker w/ an eastern backhand? i have tried but i can't do it. i can only use continental. when i do it, it poops onto the ground about at my service line.....

 

[newnuse]

The video was taken yesterday right after it rained so it was overcast. The court was slightly wet and the balls were a little damp from falling in the puddles. I can take a better video another day.

My goal would be to get more topspin out of it. I know the basic premise of swinging the racquet from 6-7 oclock to 1-2 oclock. Just wanted to make sure my technique was okay.

I've never seen a really good twist serve. I looked at the twist serve on about.com, but I don't see anything special about it. Maybe the video wasn't clear, but it didn't look like the ball bounced any different. Looked like a regular kick serve.

Oh, in that case your form is fine for topsin.

I've seen some good twist serves... the kinda where if you stand back, you return the ball at head level...plus the side movement.... try that with a 1 hand backhand.... it's plain nasty....

I don't have that much action with my twist serves but I've played guys where I would only use that serve to the Ad Court... I'm talking about every serve, 1st,2nd... right to the backhand..... some guys just can't return it

Have you seen Edberg serve? that's a good example... he had the best twist serve I've seen

 

[paulmaben]

Practice the kicker on the ad side primarily and serve out wide. Take another video with a tripod in a higher position angled in that direction. From what I see you on the action you are in between a topspin and slice. You aren't getting a real jump to the right when the ball bounces. Practice getting the head of the raquet more out to the right with a pronating action. You'll get it. Just takes some more time.

 

[drakulie]

ZP Tennis has a very good kick serve. here is a link to his thread:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=117077

 

[str33t]

ZP Tennis has a very good kick serve. here is a link to his thread:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=117077

the kick serve video has been removed

 

[Hot Sauce]

Oh Man, if I pick up the balls like that it would kill my back. You'll know what I mean when you turn my age.

Thats really good advice.

 

[shindemac]

I'm just learning this serve too. If you want to change the amount of topspin, there are a few things you can change.

Change your angle of attack so it adjusts the amount of flat/topspin you apply. 90 deg would be pure topspin while 45 deg would be a good mix of both. It also helps to adjust the toss so it is over the baseline. If I want to flatten out my topspin, then I throw it 1 or 2 feet in the baseline. I would recommend practicing varying the amount of topspin so you understand this concept well. Try to do extreme top, moderate, slight, almost flat, etc. Don't just try to practice the same amount of topspin everytime.

Reduce the amount of slice in your serve. The easiest way to do this is to adjust the toss location so it is over your head instead of your right shoulder. The more to the right your toss is, the more slice you'll add. I've been told I have a ton of slice on it so it's essentially a slice serve even though I'm trying to do top, so I need lots of work here. My toss is only 2 inches to the right of the ideal location, so it's not like I'm Dementieva.

Lastly, you can increase your swing speed. I'm not going to go in depth, but basically you use your body to generate more power. More legs, higs, torso, whatever.

Btw, you have a nice serve. How long have you been practicing it?

 

[Swissv2]

The funny thing is, i did have shorts with pockets on. I just didn't like the feeling of stuffing 9 balls in my pockets. Really inhibits your motion.

Then just put two balls in your pockets, and leave the rest in a ball hopper. Easy.

 

[JCo872]

What are some things I can work on to improve my kick serve?

http://s86961127.onlinehome.us/video/Kick%20Serve.mov

In some of my follow throughs it looks like i'm falling to the left afterwards, maybe losing balance due to a bad toss. Is that normal?

I was thinking of making this like a video journal.. So if you guys can give me some advice I can update with a new video once I incorporate that into my serve.

Thanks

If you want more kick on the ball, you have to torque your hand and forearm out to the right, from contact on. Watch Federer "torque" the ball out to side here:

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve/kicker_example.php

I would like to see you let your racket "hang" in the air in the trophy position for a lot longer. It will get you more rhythm on your serve. Overall I like your serve a lot. You get a good racket drop.

Jeff

 

[mucat]

My kick serve is similiar to yours. But mine got murder from time to time, very sad. When I was having a good 2nd serve day, I swing harder, I guess my suggestion is, increase your swing speed. That will put more topspin and pace on the ball, make it less attackable.

 

[strcmp]

I'm just learning this serve too. If you want to change the amount of topspin, there are a few things you can change.

Change your angle of attack so it adjusts the amount of flat/topspin you apply. 90 deg would be pure topspin while 45 deg would be a good mix of both. It also helps to adjust the toss so it is over the baseline. If I want to flatten out my topspin, then I throw it 1 or 2 feet in the baseline. I would recommend practicing varying the amount of topspin so you understand this concept well. Try to do extreme top, moderate, slight, almost flat, etc. Don't just try to practice the same amount of topspin everytime.

Reduce the amount of slice in your serve. The easiest way to do this is to adjust the toss location so it is over your head instead of your right shoulder. The more to the right your toss is, the more slice you'll add. I've been told I have a ton of slice on it so it's essentially a slice serve even though I'm trying to do top, so I need lots of work here. My toss is only 2 inches to the right of the ideal location, so it's not like I'm Dementieva.

Lastly, you can increase your swing speed. I'm not going to go in depth, but basically you use your body to generate more power. More legs, higs, torso, whatever.

Btw, you have a nice serve. How long have you been practicing it?

I'll try diff. amounts of spin next time.
This is my 3rd time going out and seriously trying to practice serves/learning the kick serve. I've attempted to do kick serves off and on before, but it was never consistent.